Julio César Franco Robles (born August 23, 1958)[1][note 1] is a Dominican former professional baseball infielder and coach.

While Franco was an All-Star and posted above-average hitting statistics throughout his career, he is best known for being the oldest regular position player in MLB history.

As a child, he lived in Consuelo, San Pedro de Macorís, a poor municipality 50 miles east of Santo Domingo.

[3] Signed by the Philadelphia Phillies organization on April 23, 1978, as an amateur free agent, Franco reported to the Rookie-level Butte Copper Kings.

Franco was promoted through the Philadelphia minor league system each year, reaching the Class AAA Oklahoma City 89ers in 1982 and batting .300 and hitting 21 home runs in 120 games.

He was one of five Phillies along with Manny Trillo, George Vukovich, Jerry Willard and Jay Baller who were traded to the Cleveland Indians for Von Hayes at the Winter Meetings on December 9, 1982.

[7] In June 1986, Franco received a two-game suspension from the Indians after he arrived at the ballpark but then left before the game started.

Because of his batting style, Franco twice led the American League in grounding into double plays and was in the top-ten in that category seven times in the 1980s.

[9] In December 1988, during baseball's Winter Meetings, Franco was traded from Cleveland to the Texas Rangers, who were in need of an everyday second baseman.

Franco drove a 101 mph fastball to the right-center field fence for a double, scoring the only runs of the game.

Chiba Lotte had the best season in its history in 1995, and Franco won the Japanese equivalent of the Gold Glove Award as a first baseman.

The following year, he returned to North America, in the Mexican League with a .423 average in 93 games (and also a strikeout in his only MLB at bat with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays).

Despite his lengthy absence, the Atlanta Braves, after seeing his success in the Mexican League, purchased his contract from the Angelopolis (Mexico City) Tigers.

'"[15] In 2004, Franco passed Cap Anson as the oldest regularly playing position player in MLB history.

Franco yet again bested himself on May 4, 2007, when he homered into the swimming pool at Chase Field against Arizona Diamondbacks lefty Randy Johnson — a game in which he also stole a base.

On April 26, 2006, Franco became the second-oldest man in MLB history to steal a base, behind only Arlie Latham, who accomplished the feat in a token appearance at age 49 with the New York Giants in 1909.

On September 19, 2006, a day after the Mets clinched the division title, Franco started at third base in a game against the Florida Marlins.

Franco began the 2008 season — his 31st in professional baseball — as a first baseman for the Tigres de Quintana Roo (Cancún) in the Mexican League.

[18] On May 2, 2008, Franco officially announced his retirement from baseball to his Mexican League team, the Quintana Roo Tigers.

Paul White of USA Today wrote that while Franco was a consistent player over a long career, he was rarely dominant.

[29] On February 5, 2022, Franco returned to the Mexican League as he was named hitting coach of the Acereros de Monclova.